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President Koschei
This page refers to the title attributed to the Deathless leader, for other uses of Koschei, see Koschei (Disambiguation) President Koschei, or simply The President is the undisputed leader of The Deathless, it is both the highest military and corporate rank anyone in Deathless Conflict Solutions can attain. Title Contrary to popular belief President Koschei isn’t one individual’s name, but rather a title. The title originates in the founding of the company in 2932, when the former legate of Legio I Scorpio, Guillaume “Koschei” Obruchev became its first President, being solely called President Koschei from that point on. Because of tradition, policy, or perhaps a bit of both, each member of The Deathless who reached that position since then have been only referred to as President Koschei. The proper and correct ways to address the President is Mr/Madame/Mx President, President Koschei or simply Sir/Ma’am/Mx. The position is currently held by a man, who took the role in the events that followed The Synthetic Contract. Powers President Koschei has supreme executive power over The Deathless, the President’s word is literally The Deathless’ command. However the leadership of the President is only needed in extreme cases of urgency or company-affecting decisions, leading to rare appearances and a very hands-off management in Deathless affairs. Some would argue that there is no need for a President in The Deathless, as the Board and the War Room, with the guidance of Marya Morevna, seem to manage themselves just fine. Such arguments are frowned upon when in the presence of other, more traditionally inclined Deathless. Selection The position of President is an indefinite one, with some very specific circumstances that can lead to a President being forcibly replaced. In the case of the previous President’s death or retirement the new candidate is chosen following a recommendation from the last President, if both the Board of VPs and War Room agree that the candidate has the required competence and leadership skills to lead the company, the new President Koschei. In the Deathless’ history a refusal of a candidate proposed by a former President has never been recorded. In the extremely unlikely occurrence (so unlikely it hasn’t happened yet) that a President is considered incapable of effectively leading the Deathless by unanimous decision of both the Board and War Room, a different process is required, since such an incapable leader’s recommendation couldn’t be trusted. In this case a vote is made by members of the Board and War Room, selecting who should become the new President. Once a new President is chosen their identity is forcibly changed to President Koschei, to ensure the safety of the Deathless leader’s family and close relationships, but also to keep the air of mystery surrounding the position to the outside world and the lower levels of the company. The selection process was implemented after the original President Koschei announced his intention to retire to the Deathless leadership at the time. Folklore surrounding President Koschei Due to the obscure nature surrounding the highest office in Deathless leadership, a plethora of stories and legends with The President at their center. The most coherent and extensive of these stories being The Epic of Koschei, written from collected stories by Alina “Homer” Antonovich. These stories go from semi-accurate recountings to completely blown out of proportion fantastic tales. In The Deathless One of the time honoured traditions in the Deathless is a one-upmanship of telling stories with The President being involved in some way, shape, or form. The storytelling is good-natured and usually involves several rounds of DVodka drank beforehand. There are no winners in the contest, only storytellers, listeners and usually drunk slumbering bodies. A strange habit in The Deathless is the graffitiing of “KOSCHEI IS” in zones where the mercs operate, reasons as to why this graffiti appears is unknown to most even inside The Deathless. Speculators say that the graffiti is a sign of worship among the Deathless, others say it is only a practical joke. The Worship of Koschei A few members of The Deathless and their families (mostly the Antonovich family) have even taken to worship the President, using the multiple stories and anecdotes as parables and ways to find meaning in their service. This worship of Koschei is only united in their belief of a Divine figure named, unsurprisingly, Koschei The Deathless. Believers have many other titles for him, but the majority are some way of signifying the figures immortality. Koschei is somewhere between a folkloric hero and a true god. He is an amalgamation of the original antagonist from Slavic legend Koschei The Deathless, and the first President of The Deathless. It is unclear and rather muddled whether or not believers think that their god is the actual sitting president of The Deathless, or if they believe that he granted the leader the authority of his name in order to wander the sector. In recent history, starting with the announcement of Koschei as an Arhat, the High Church has begun to reach out in an attempt to absorb the cult into the Imperial faith. The attempt is making slow but sure progress. Many of the faithful are vehemently resistant to the attempts, however a larger and larger number have begun to see the benefits of the High Church support, as well as the new interpretation of the faith. Traditions The core aspects of practicing the faith lie in traditional acts. In the family homes of members of the religion you might find a sanctuary of sorts that would contain a young green oak (One of Koschei’s symbols). Worshippers would gather in the sanctuary to sing songs and tell stories (usually in Russian, French, or the Koscheian combined dialect). The subject of most of these are either Deathless history combined with folklore, or simple stories about the wanderings of Koschei through the sector. In the stories Koschei either travels alone, or with his handpicked crew of the honored Deathless. It is common for an elder of the faith to explain the lessons from the stories and songs. It is also very common for the group to discuss and argue these lessons and the proper interpretations of the stories. The most heated arguments tend to be in regards to what Koschei would want for the modern Deathless PMC. Some few in the older generations still believe that turning the Deathless into a proper company was a grave mistake, as well as blasphemous. Service Unsurprisingly the faithful of Koschei believe in worship through service to The Deathless. Training and preparing for war as well as executing it without failure is believed to be a charter from Koschei if not necessarily an intrinsically holy act. The faithful Deathless tend to pass their names on to worthy children, this does not always follow any sort of birth order but it is more usual for the name to be passed to the first born (the irony that the faithful Deathless families act a bit like nobles amongst themselves is completely lost on them). Rituals: Many of the faithful Deathless follow pre-battle rituals. These tend to be the thing most commonly taken up by non faithful deathless, and as such are much more pervasive in the ranks. The faithful believe that doing the rituals grants the Deathless their edge in battle. A boon granted by Koschei’s will and his magics. Example Rituals for the Antonovich family marines The Song and The Shot: '''Before each battle the faithful sing one of the folk songs. At the end of the song the marines let a drop of blood fall into a shot of Dvodka, raise their glasses and drink. This ritual is meant to represent that only The Deathless can shed the blood of The Deathless. '''Burial at Sea: When one of the Antonovich family dies they do a short ceremony, tell stories about the fallen, then send them out into space wearing their armor. When possible done before leaving the site of the battle. The faithful believe that if you served Koschei well enough in life he will find you out in the void. Making you one of his crew to roam the sector forever, truly Deathless. Category:The Deathless Category:Titles